well back in the shop .
we think we found the issue . I had this motor studded but also using billet main caps . upon disassembly and cleaning there was a real small mark on the seal holder , touching the very top of both arp stud nuts . looked to cause the holder to lean out just slightly from the block and not hold seal square . just was not picked up . [censored] .
Clearanced it and it was for sure mounted square .
Monte , we did set the seal at 90deg . certainly was easier to confirm alignment .
now just got to refit motor and trans.

thanks for all the input

And merry Christmas

Tex